The parent of Simsbury Bank & Trust Co. saw third-quarter net income fall 83 percent amid a slowing in mortgage refinancing.
For three months ended Sept. 30, SBT Bancorp Inc. said Friday it netted $85,000, or 6 cents a diluted share, down from $506,000, or 55 cents a share, earned the same quarter last year.
“The third quarter featured double digit growth in our deposits and continued strong loan growth,” said CEO Martin J. Geitz. ‘Our earnings performance, however, was disappointing as the sudden and dramatic rise in market interest rates adversely impacted our mortgage gain-on-sale revenue trend and slowed demand for mortgage refinancings.
Geitz said the bank’s reduced mortgage volume can be traced to the upward move in interest rates.
However, he said the bank is still moving to expand its mortgage-origination operation to Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
“We’re not laying off on the mortgage side,’’ Geitz said. “We are, in fact, recruiting mortgage originators.’’
CORRECTION: The bank is expanding its mortgage-origination operation to include Massachusetts and Rhode Island. An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the expansion’s geographic scope.
